Have You Ever?: A Fairytale of a Different Variety

By Alicia Knecht

Once upon a time, there was this girl who thought she had found her path and ideal life plan, but then God said, "I have something better." And so the next big adventure began...

Do you like fairytales? Adventure? Chivalrous Romance? Giants? Miracles? Swash-buckling pirates? Okay, so there are no pirates in this story, but you can count on

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: May 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9781647739843

Alicia Knecht

Alicia Knecht is a big fan of life and laughter. She has a passion for people to know Jesus, be healed, set free, and see His miracles and destiny for their life come to pass. She is the Founder of A Strong & Healthy Life and the Have You Ever? testimonial ministry. She published a children's book called Sparky and Millie's Ocean Adventure and hopes to continue writing, sharing God stories, and encouraging others in the future.

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Have You Ever?

A Fairytale of a different variety

Alicia Knecht

Trilogy Christian Publishers

TUSTIN, CA

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

Have You Ever?

Copyright © 2021 by Alicia Knecht

Scriptures marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible. English Standard Version® Copyright© 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission.

Scriptures marked TLB are taken from the (TLB):

Scripture taken from The Living Bible copyright© 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture quotations marked TPT are from The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017, 2018 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ThePassionTranslation.com. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission from the author. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, CA 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Cover design by Jeff Summers

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN: 978-1-64773-983-6

E-ISBN: 978-1-64773-984-3

Dedication

To my family, whose fierce belief in me and support is unmatched. Thank you for always being a steady place to anchor, faithful helping hands, and choosing to see possibility and goodness even when I sometimes cannot. May I always return that same kindness and blessing toward you and others.

To my friends, who walked alongside me through many of these stories, your prayers, unwavering faith, and encouragement have been a firm example of iron sharpens iron. I am forever grateful for your presence in my life.

To my Good Lord, forever first and my greatest love of all. Without You, these pages and my fairytale would cease to exist. There is no one like You.

Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does.

—Psalm 96:3 (NLT)

Contents

Dedication iii

Prologue vii

Chapter 1: The Beginning 1

Chapter 2: Have You Ever...Been Surrounded by

Darkness? 6

Chapter 3: Have You Ever...Felt Far from God? 18

Chapter 4: Have You Ever...Taken a Wild Risk? 29

Chapter 5: Have You Ever...Been Asked to Travel the

Narrow Path? 43

Chapter 6: Have You Ever...Said Yes to an

Adventure? 57

Chapter 7: Have You Ever...Felt Abandoned or

Alone? 67

Chapter 8: Have You Ever...Known There Was a Bigger

Purpose? 78

Chapter 9: Have You Ever...Been Gripped by Fear? 96

Chapter 10: Have You Ever...Had Love Flood Your

Heart? 116

Chapter 11: Have You Ever...Sensed Seasons Were

Changing? 131

Chapter 12: Have You Ever...Experienced a

Transition? 139

Chapter 13: Have You Ever...Needed Rest? 157

Chapter 14: Have You Ever...Hit Your Limit? 171

Chapter 15: Have You Ever...Lost a Precious Pet? 181

Chapter 16: Have You Ever...Witnessed the Hand of God

in Your Life? 188

Epilogue: Your Story—Activate and Accelerate 208

Bibliography 217

About the Author 220

Prologue

Welcome to the story of my life, or at least part of it, that is! Before we dive into this untold adventure, let me clarify a few things. First, I am just an ordinary girl. (Which now you are probably wondering why you even want to read this book. Ha! But hang on, I promise it gets good.) I grew up in a small town in Indiana that most folks cannot find on the map. For most of my life, I have felt awkward, self-conscious, like I don’t fit, and am not put together. You know those people you look at, and they seem to look put together? I am not one of those, especially in the fashion department. There are those rare days, though, when I feel brilliant. Other days, I try to exit my vehicle with my seatbelt still fastened. Yes, and that has happened not once but multiple times in my life. As one of my favorite Bible teachers likes to say, I am blonder than I pay to be. I can assure you that applies to this gal too.

Secondly, anything you read from here on out is only extraordinary because the Lord got involved. Our lives are filled with perceived ordinary moments, but when He starts moving in your life, you better believe it is anything but that!

Thirdly, to protect the individuals who have graced the landscape of my story, they will remain anonymous. My heart is never to dishonor or hurt anyone. Our lives are full of characters, some God-ordained, and others we choose from our moments of impaired judgment or brokenness. Nonetheless, they are all important and can impact the trajectory of our lives immensely.

Lastly, my prayer is that this book helps open your eyes to see God in your own story and that you will feel less alone in your life and walk of faith. I pray it also equips you for your journey, which is why every chapter ends with Bible verses to declare and a prayer. You can read this from beginning to end or pick a chapter that speaks to you whenever you need it. However, there is no substitution for your Bible so make sure you open yours, allow God to speak to you through His Word, and highlight verses as you go!

May these God stories fill you with hope and stir a new faith in you to take God at His Word and believe He is working and fashioning the events of your life into an epic tale far better than any fairytale. He is using every facet to help you become who He has always dreamed you would be. May your story be sent forth as well to be a breath of fresh air for someone else. We all love a good story, right? We are in this together—through laughter, tears, joy, celebration, loss, and love.

Shall we?

Chapter 1

The Beginning

I wanna see something I’ve not seen, something so big, I wanna be a part of something great. It takes a miracle to do. We, Your children, wanna do something big for you!

—John Waller

Many may not consider this a fairytale, but as the pages flutter from chapter to chapter, a familiar storyline will arise. Yet our God stories are incredibly more profound and whimsical. We have a guaranteed better ending and happily ever after because we belong to the King of Kings. There are many stories that I could tell but let’s start with the following to bring you up to speed.

A long, long time ago (ten years to be exact, and if you sang that previous line like the oldie’s song American Pie, you get extra kudos!), I was watching my life crumble. My career wasn’t heading in the right direction, and if anything, it looked like that situation might get worse before it got better. My personal life wasn’t in any better shape. My dreams were dying one by one, and all I could do was focus on getting through. It was survival. Ever been there? I am sure you have.

As the New Year kicked off, my dad asked me, Alicia, what do you want for this year? As I sat solemnly in the passenger seat of his vehicle with an emotionless face, I stared out the window and replied, To just make it. That was all I knew how to say, and that was about as much hope as I could muster. As much as it hurt to see my childhood dream for my career begin to fall flat and the relationship that I thought would lead to marriage go up in smoke, I also realized on top of that that I was slowly becoming a shell of a person. I was alive, but I wasn’t living.

It was about that time that I began to sing John Waller’s song Something Big as my anthem and prayer. Listen to it. It will bless you; I promise. I sang and sang that song at the top of my lungs. It stirred hope in me for the first time in a long time! I honestly didn’t care what God did. I just needed Him to do something because I was desperate for more. Not more stuff but more depth. More progress. More fullness. More life. Even more of Him. Even though that was my heart’s desire, I had never felt more empty or lost.

Who would I be if I wasn’t Alicia Knecht, marine and aquatic biologist?

Who would I be if I wasn’t going to be Mrs. So and So?

Who am I? Where was my life going? Everything I had dreamed and planned for was suddenly no longer feasible. Truthfully, I didn’t fit that mold anyway. (You know, square peg, round hole.) Those questions are why God shook up my world. He desired to teach me who I was if I had none of the titles or accolades. He wanted me to understand my future was in Him even when I was nothing I had thought I wanted to be. He wanted me to know He still had a plan even when I had not a single one. (Oh, and for us type-A personalities, this is no good, is it?) I have since learned that making plans isn’t always fruitful, and I never had control of them anyway, but seriously, a girl can dream, right?

God was stripping me of everything that was no longer necessary. That process was painful, but the outcome was beautiful, which I hope you see through the story penned on the following pages. It was time for me, as a Daughter of the King, to finally know who I was in Jesus instead of being defined by this world or my circumstances. (It is time for you too!) I must digress for a quick minute, though, before we move on.

Before moving to Florida to chase my childhood dream, I had rededicated my life to Christ after a few years of being lost and living deep in sin. Shortly after I rededicated my life, I began reading my Bible. I didn’t know what to read. I would randomly pick a verse or chapter and read it nightly before I fell asleep, and those nights that I did, God would give me dreams of dolphins and the ocean. I had forgotten about my childhood dream of oceanography and marine biology, but He hadn’t. Isn’t that comforting? It seemed like such an odd dream as a kid because I grew up where we say, There is more than corn in Indiana. Yes, indeed. There are cows and wide-open land. There are no dolphins! I didn’t have plans to move to Florida at this time, but through those dreams, God was calling and laying the foundation for a wild and wonderful adventure.

Indiana is my roots.

Florida was my wilderness. (More on that later.)

Texas was my promise-land. (We will get there.)

As I was preparing to move, my dad gifted me, The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson. There is this portion of the story that talks about giving your dream (feather) back to God, and I distinctively remember thinking, God, I don’t know if I will be able to do that. I love my dream and have since I was a kid. I am sure God laughed a little because He could see the end from the beginning and already knew that that day would surely come. Much to my surprise, that day did arrive. I was ready and practically begged God to take this dream from my shaking yet surrendered hands.

My heart was broken.

I was lost.

My world appeared shattered.

Yet, for the first time, I also felt a glimmer of possibility.

Little did I know how adventurous this would become, and belting that Something Big anthem at the top of my lungs would be the prayer God answered and answered radically. Had I known, I might not have sung as loud, but it was and is all worth it.

I have been healed.

I have seen miracles.

I have grown.

I have been set free.

I have had new dreams come true.

I found the person within that God always dreamed I would be.

I have more faith and know God in ways I wouldn’t have had I decided to stay.

It is an ever-winding road, but we serve a big God, who has big plans, and they are oh…so…good. Now that you are up to speed, sojourner, let the fairytale begin!

Chapter 2

Have You Ever...Been Surrounded by Darkness?

Ordinary started to feel that his Dream was finally accomplished, the Dream Giver said, Let me show you more.

—Bruce Wilkinson

Remember how I mentioned my career wasn’t going so well? We will begin our adventure there. I was a biologist for a State agency in Florida, and let me say, I only got the job by the grace of God. I walked out of that interview and told my parents, Well, I don’t think I am going to get that job. That was terrible! However, a couple of days later, I received a call that said they had given me the position. That should have tipped me off right away. God was up to something, but I was too shocked and excited to be aware of that.

I loved that job with my whole heart. It was a dream, but underlying issues were happening long before I arrived that I didn’t know would land on me at some point. I remember praying and saying, Oh, Lord, please don’t let this happen. I wanted to stay here forever. I knew if things changed and I went down this road of confrontation, there would be no way I could stay. You know those changes that occur, and there is no going back? That was this kind of fork in the road.

God was using a challenging